The present invention is directed to filling strips and, more specifically, is directed to improved filling strips and to a system and method for producing such filling strips that is adapted for automation.
Filling strips are typically used between a corrugated member and a corresponding support to prevent dirt, water and/or debris from passing therebetween. One common application of filling strips is to place filling strips between the top of wall and corrugated metal roof supported by the wall. Currently, filling strips are manufactured by intermittently, manually advancing a foam sheet along a conveyor through a vertical die press that punches out the necessary filling strips. Due to the manufacturing errors which would result from attempting to successively cut portions of a filling strip having a length greater than that of the die, the length of filling strips is generally limited by the size of the cutting die. Today filling strips are punched out of foam sheets that have a width generally equal to the size of the die. Multiple drawbacks result from manufacturing filling strips using a die as described above.
One drawback is the increased waste material that results from having to space apart the cuts that are made in the sheet of material used to form the filling strips so that the cut strips are spaced apart from each other along the sheet to prevent the die from damaging portions of already cut filling strips. Additionally, due to the limited length of the filling strips, the packaging of filling strips wound in a roll is not practical.
Furthermore, for many jobs, the limited length of the filling strips requires that multiple filling strips be placed end-to-end along a side of a building and secured to each other, preferably with interlocking ends, to fill a gap between a corrugated member and a corrugated member supporting surface. The use of interlocking ends does not prevent individual filling strips from separating from each other which results in wind borne contaminates and water being blown between the corrugated member and supporting surface.
It would be advantageous to provide a system and method for manufacturing filling strips that preferably: allows the filling strips to be placed in a roll after they have been cut; reduces or eliminates the amount of waste material generated during manufacturing; facilitates the automation of the manufacturing of the fillings strips; allows for a single continuous filling strip to be used along an entire length of a corrugated member and that produces filling strips that are relatively easier to install than currently available filling strips.